At their regular board meeting on Tuesday, Lower Paxton Township supervisors delayed a vote on expansion plans for Memorial Eye Institute, 4100 Linglestown Road, so they can confer about the property owner’s request to waive sidewalk requirements along Linglestown and Dover roads.

The Lower Paxton Township Planning Commission recommended approval of the 5,000-square-foot expansion with a sidewalk along Dover Road, but no sidewalk along Linglestown Road until adjacent properties also had sidewalks.

Dr. Bennett Chotiner, owner of the property and business, told supervisors that he learned since the planning commission action that a 155-foot sidewalk along Dover Road will cost $25,000 due to construction conditions. So, he asked the board to defer both sidewalks since neighboring properties don’t have sidewalks now.

“There’s no place to walk,” Chotiner said. "The sidewalks would not go anywhere.”

However, Chotiner said he’d build the sidewalks later if the situation changed. “It’s a lot of money to do that and try to do something economical [with the business],” he said. “I just want to defer it until it’s useful.”

The board was split 2-2 with Chairman William Hawk absent. Board members William Hornung and David Blain were inclined to approve the plan, while Gary Crissman and William Seeds were ready to vote no.

“That kind of arrangement is difficult to track,” Seeds said. “If we do it for you, then everybody’s going to be in here.”

Chotiner also requested a waiver of a requirement to prove that the stormwater management system on the property can handle additional runoff from the expansion. The planning commission had recommended approval of that waiver in lieu of an alternative method. Supervisors said they wanted to examine the request.

The plan will be on the agenda at the supervisors’ Feb. 12 workshop, with a vote likely at the Feb. 19 regular meeting.